Alexandra Folmer, a software design engineer, says her 20-plus years helping public institutions solve complicated problems provides her with the practical experience a Wasatch County councilor needs. “I take on complex public operations across finance, human resources, student services and gr ants administration and turn them into systems leadership can measure, residents and employees can use and auditors can follow,” Folmer said. “That work is making public systems function for the people who depend on them and making sure public dollars can be tracked and accounted for.” The Heber City resident is a write-in candidate for Wasatch County Council Seat C. Folmer was a registered Republican at the time of the interview, but said she planned to change her party affiliation to Independent before the election. This is her first try for public office. The other candidate running to fill the four-year term is incumbent Republican Erick Rowland, who is chair of the County Council.  Folmer, who grew up in Louisiana and Florida, earned an undergraduate degree in journalism and communications and a master’s in decision and information sciences from the University of Florida. She has lived in Utah for 15 years, the past five of which have been in Wasatch County. As a longtime advocate for open space, Folmer said she has worked to safeguard the Heber Valley’s water, agricultural land, views and rural character. Her approach is the same as that of her work — she reads meeting packets, files public record requests and follows decisions on development and public finance.  “I believe that residents deserve that scrutiny before growth is approved and the bills arrive,” Folmer said. “I will bring practical experience, an independent voice and a refusal to treat growth approvals as a rubber stamp.” Development should be tied to actual capacity, according to Folmer. If roads, water, wastewater, schools and emergency services cannot support a project, it should be phased or delayed, she said. Folmer’s decision to seek public office was prompted in part by Rowland’s appointment to the Military Installation Development Authority board. MIDA reserves one seat for a Wasatch County councilor, and Rowland accepted the position to work as a liaison when he became council chair. MIDA is a state entity, and the board oversees eight active project areas in the state, including the Deer Valley East Village development. “I am running because the councilor who is supposed to watch MIDA should not also be sitting on the board,” Folmer said. She added there was no requirement for Rowland to take the seat, though he is not the first councilor to do so.  She also argued Rowland has competing priorities with MIDA because he already serves on the Wasatch Open Lands Board, which reviews conservation easement applications from landowners and recommends how to allocate open space bond money. Board members can see which parcels are being offered, what the county is willing to pay to keep them open and which of those deals are still being negotiated, Folmer said. She feared that information, which she said is used to protect land, would be supplied to MIDA. Wasatch County loses local control because MIDA, a state board, is making land use and tax decisions that used to be made by the county, she said. A preliminary municipality pilot program allowing developers of privately owned land to incorporate as a town also causes the county to lose local control, Folmer said. Other issues that need attention are infrastructure and services, she added. “Wasatch County is selling million-dollar houses next to 1970s sewage lagoons that went nearly 50 years without a dredge, still smell every spring and are already the subject of lawsuits,” she said. “The district’s own plan says those ponds run out of room around 2035 and should be replaced with a mechanical plant, because this is not the farm valley they were built for.” Folmer also calls for more support for local family farms, saying the families deserve real alternatives “so the farms and the identity of this valley can carry on.” She supports agritourism — farm stands, u-picks and working farms that stay in production, tied together by bike paths that link neighborhoods to trails and to the farms. “That is a local economy that does not require selling the land,” Folmer said. The voter registration deadline is Oct. 23, though same-day registration is available on Election Day, Nov. 3. Regular general election ballots are mailed Oct. 13, and all ballots must be in the Wasatch County Clerk-Auditor’s Office by 8 p.m. on election night.  Ballot drop box locations include Charleston Town Hall, Hideout Town Hall, the Wasatch County Administration Building and Wasatch County Library, Midway City Hall and Wallsburg Town Hall. The post Growth, local control are top concerns for Wasatch County Council candidate Alexandra Folmer appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less